Lavish parties, gadget launches help them draw attention at CES

January 6, 2005

By CRAYTON HARRISON / The Dallas Morning News

LAS VEGAS — The world's biggest technology trade show officially opens Wednesday with its usual sugar rush of geeky gadgets, celebrity cameos and chic parties. Perhaps some business will get done, too.

The Consumer Electronics Show is expected to lure more than 130,000 people this year, a mix of media, analysts, salespeople, executives and even consumers.

With all those people in one place, technology companies try to use the event to get as much attention as possible for their newest products. The traditional business of a trade show goes on as best it can behind the scenes.

"If you're coming in there hoping to do business at CES, you're not going to do anything," said Jeffrey Citron, chief executive of Internet telephony company Vonage. Attendees have to plan their meetings far in advance, so there's little room for spontaneous encounters that lead to business relationships, he explained.

The glitzfest roared to life late Wednesday, when Microsoft Corp. founder Bill Gates gave his traditional pre-show keynote speech.

Introduced by late-night host Conan O'Brien as the "sultan of software," Mr. Gates told the crowd at the Las Vegas Hilton that he's pleased with the way the technology industry has embraced entertainment, from movies to music to gaming.

"We predicted at the beginning of the decade that this would be the decade that the digital approach would be taken for granted," he said. "What's fun about this show is it lets us come and see what the progress is."

Mr. Gates was hampered by technical snafus, but he was lucky enough to have Mr. O'Brien by his side for ad-libs.

"Who's in charge here? Who's in charge of Microsoft?" Mr. O'Brien said when a movie didn't play. He looked in Mr. Gates' direction. "Oh, wait..."

Mr. Gates normally unveils some unforeseen new technological wonder at his CES keynote. But at press time, his presentation was focusing only on incremental improvements to Microsoft's Media Center software platform, such as the ability to automatically record television programs to DVD.

SBC's TV foray

Mr. Gates also ceded the floor to SBC Communications Inc. senior executive vice president Lee Ann Champion, who showed off the San Antonio, Texas-based company's technological foray into television.

Texas Instruments Inc. chief executive Rich Templeton, who describes himself as anything but flashy, will make his debut in the CES spotlight Friday. He's one of a handful of top industry executives who have received a coveted slot as a keynote speaker.

Industry groups and companies host lavish parties throughout the week at Las Vegas' most fashionable nightspots. Many rent large booths on the trade show floor, snaring convention-goers with free T-shirts, celebrity entertainment or over-the-top presentations.

Sony Corp. unveiled its much-anticipated PSP portable gaming platform Wednesday afternoon in a swanky room at the Hard Rock Cafe casino, plastering the device's logo between silver curtains.

"It's compact and sleek, a downright sexy device," cooed Kaz Hirai, CEO of Sony's U.S. digital entertainment unit. The gaming system will be available in March, he said.

Standing out

The sheer volume of news and announcements makes it difficult for even the largest companies to stand out from the crowd. Samsung, the second-largest wireless handset maker, announced its first-quarter phone lineup on Tuesday just to get the word out before the show began.

"It helps point people, if they go to the show, to where to come to see innovation," said Pete Skarzynski, senior vice president at Samsung's Richardson, Texas-based telecommunications unit.

Vonage is announcing the development of a portable Internet telephone that can run on Wi-Fi wireless networks. It also will announce phones that use TI technology to connect directly to a broadband router or make calls that include video.

Less show, more talk

CES has grown so large and so important that even companies without consumer products feel the need to go.

International Business Machines Corp.'s personal computer unit, which has announced a merger with Chinese PC maker Lenovo, sent executives to the show to talk to customers and journalists about the combined company.

"CES is becoming a more useful venue for people to sit and talk," said Bob Galush, vice president of product marketing for the IBM unit.

Amid all the noise, companies try to accomplish the same things they would at any other trade show — make new contacts, meet with sales partners and establish alliances.

Since the holiday season has subsided, executives use the meeting to go over fourth-quarter sales with retailers, tweaking strategies when necessary. And companies that collaborate on technology often use CES to get together in person, since everyone's there anyway.

Those meetings sometimes lead to major business initiatives. Samsung's close relationship with the TI unit that makes television chips came directly out of meetings that began at CES. And Vonage announced a partnership with TI last year that led to this year's product announcements.